Trump Falsely Claims Iran Was Near Nuclear Weapon Under Obama, Stopped by His Airstrikes

During a 'Meet the Press' interview, Trump falsely claimed that Iran was 'very close to having a nuclear weapon' under the Obama administration and would 'right now have a nuclear weapon' if he hadn't launched airstrikes in June 2025. This contradicts assessments from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and U.S. Intelligence Community, which have consistently cast doubt on Trump's repeated claims that U.S. strikes 'obliterated Iran's nuclear weapons program.' Arms control experts dispute both the claim that Iran was close to a weapon under Obama and that the 2025 strikes eliminated nuclear capabilities. Iran's Foreign Ministry accused Trump of repeating 'big lies' about their nuclear program. This represents a continuation of a documented pattern of disinformation about Iran's nuclear program that Trump has repeated since the February 2026 strikes, now expanded to include false comparisons with the Obama era.

"Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon under Obama and would right now have a nuclear weapon if I hadn't launched airstrikes" — Statement made during Meet the Press interview on June 9, 2026, defending his June 2025 Iran strikes and attacking Obama administration's nuclear diplomacy